A Deal with the Group Leader

"Phew, I can't break through that many realms at once again. That exquisite agony went straight to the top of my skull. I can't take it, I can't take it." After a while, Lin Yu, who had been rolling his eyes on the bed, finally came to his senses.

Lin Yu hadn't expected clicking three times in one go to be so intense.

Who could imagine the sight of that endless stream of spiritual power coursing wildly through every meridian in the body?

To help Lin Yu break through so many realms, the system had also released a huge amount of spiritual Qi all at once, but not too much. Each time his meridians expanded a little, the system supplied just a little more than they could hold,

letting Lin Yu enjoy the feeling of being stretched open. Coupled with the exhilarating pleasure that came with cultivation and the friction of spiritual Qi against his meridians, it had sent Lin Yu soaring straight to heaven.

"But is this the Daoist Realm? Compared to an ordinary person, it's like heaven and earth have been overturned." Lin Yu clenched his hands and took a moment to feel the difference.

The spiritual power in his body was now enough to support him in drawing a complete talisman. It wouldn't be like at noon, when he had only been able to draw a work of art with a tiny trace of spiritual Qi in it because he lacked spiritual power.

Just then, Lin Yu noticed someone @-ing him in the chat group.

[Omniscient and Omnipotent: @Lin Yu, do you have any talismans to spare? I can buy them with points. I need a few talismans from your world.]

[Lin Yu: How many do you need, group leader? If it's too many, I'll have to ask my master.]

Lin Yu opened the chat and saw that she wanted to buy talismans. At his current realm, he could draw more than ten yellow talismans in one sitting. He didn't know whether that would be enough.

[Omniscient and Omnipotent: Just five or six. I don't need too many. I'll ask you for more when I run out.]

[Lin Yu: Sure, wait a moment. I'll go get them for you.]

As soon as Lin Yu sent the message, he ran off to ask Uncle Nine for paper and cinnabar. This was a great chance to make money, and he couldn't pass it up.

"Master, Master, can I have some yellow paper? I want to practice drawing talismans some more." Lin Yu ran outside and found Uncle Nine.

"All right, wait here. I'll have Wen Cai fetch some." Looking at Lin Yu, Uncle Nine thought he really was studying and practicing diligently. He couldn't have been more gratified.

"Wen Cai! Get Xiao Yu some yellow paper." Uncle Nine had just finished speaking gently to Lin Yu when he turned and shouted at Wen Cai.

"Oh, oh, okay." Wen Cai, who had just been scolded by Uncle Nine and was still sitting in a daze, chewing on the end of his brush, was so startled that he hurriedly handed Lin Yu the yellow paper in front of him.

"Thank you, Master, Senior Brother Wen Cai."

With that, Lin Yu took the brush and cinnabar Uncle Nine handed him, along with Wen Cai's yellow paper, and ran back to his room.

"Wait, I haven't asked the group leader what talismans she wants yet." Just as he was about to draw an Evil-Dispelling Talisman, Lin Yu slapped his forehead.

He had run off so quickly at the mention of points to be earned that he hadn't asked her what talismans she wanted.

[Lin Yu: @Omniscient and Omnipotent, great group leader, what talismans do you want? Let me say this first: with my current cultivation, I might not be able to draw anything too difficult. Even if I do, it might not be very powerful.]

Lin Yu went into the chat group to ask, but he also gave Su Xiaoxiao a warning in advance, in case she asked for some highly difficult talismans right off the bat.

[Omniscient and Omnipotent: Emmm, I just want some talismans that work on ghosts and monsters. A few Lightning Talismans, fire talismans, that sort of thing, and a few for protecting my life too.]

[Lin Yu: Do you think I'm a wholesaler? I'm only eight! I'll do my best to meet your demands.]

Seeing Su Xiaoxiao's request, Lin Yu spoke irritably.

[Omniscient and Omnipotent: I believe in you. You can do it, Little Yuyu! But if you really can't manage, we can always get outside help, like your master.]

In fact, Su Xiaoxiao had approached Lin Yu in the first place thinking that, since he had agreed, he would surely ask Uncle Nine for help if he couldn't manage it himself.

[Lin Yu: Wait for my good news.]

"Emm, life-saving talismans, talismans for dealing with ghosts and monsters... Isn't the group leader's world modern Earth? But if she's asking an eight-year-old kid like me for talismans, it probably isn't dangerous." After reading the group leader's message, Lin Yu began another round of analysis.

"Forget it. Since she trusts a kid like me, I can't let her down. Let's see which talismans fit the bill." With that, Lin Yu opened the Complete Collection of Talismans and began reading through it slowly.

"I have to say, this Heaven-Defying Comprehension really is convenient. Mother Earth sure lives up to her name. Without it, I couldn't have completed this deal."

"I'll cling to Buddha's feet at the last minute, cling to Buddha's feet at the last minute..." Eventually, Lin Yu happily began singing as he read.

"Ow!" Before he could finish singing, he felt a heavy blow to the back of his head.

Startled, Lin Yu immediately clapped one hand over his mouth and held his head with the other. "Grandmaster, I won't dare do it again."

Only after he noticed no further movement did he slowly lower his hands.

He carefully resumed reading. This time he stopped singing about Buddha and sang instead, "I'll cling to Grandmaster at the last minute, and Grandmaster gives me a kick."

[You read the Maoshan Talisman Compendium and entered a state of sudden enlightenment. Combining it with your Way of Talismans, you felt as though you could draw talismans without a brush, but not much; you failed.]

"Ahh~" After comprehending the Maoshan Talisman Compendium, Lin Yu was so vexed by that neither-here-nor-there feeling that he clutched his head and roared.

"No, I need to broaden my experience, or I won't be able to gain enlightenment on anything."

Those experiences had left Lin Yu, a nine-year-compulsory-education dropout, increasingly thirsty for knowledge.

Unfortunately, the knowledge he had accumulated from reading over the past few days was nowhere near enough.

With some profound cultivation techniques, comprehension was all he could manage.

From time to time, Lin Yu wondered whether there was a cultivation technique that could stuff all the knowledge in the world into his head in an instant.

Reading books bit by bit simply couldn't keep up with his comprehension.

He didn't want to experience that feeling again, like having a bit of an idea how to solve a problem but being unable to figure it out no matter how hard he thought.

"It looks like even Heaven-Defying Comprehension can't save a piece of trash with nothing but a pile of fertilizer in his head." Lin Yu wanted to cry but had no tears. He really couldn't comprehend anything.

For now, though, the most pressing task was to draw the talismans he had promised the group leader.

Lin Yu: Emm, what should I draw? She probably needs Ghost-Expelling Talismans.

Lin Yu rubbed his chin in thought.

"Mm, I'll draw these."

He seemed to have made up his mind. Lin Yu picked up the brush and got started.

"Come on, follow me. Draw a charm on the left to protect the body and keep it safe, one on the right to guard the home and ward off evil, and Zhong Kui in the middle. He's your shining disco ball..."

As Lin Yu drew, he found it wasn't very difficult and began to sing.

Before long,

"Phew, done." Lin Yu looked at the finished talismans on the table, wiped the nonexistent sweat from his forehead, and rotated his wrist, which had grown sore from using the brush for so long.

"I still don't have enough spiritual power."

"What a shame. If I'd had enough spiritual power, it would have been a complete blue talisman." Lin Yu picked up the Five Thunder Talisman glowing with a faint blue light and silently lamented the result. If he'd known, he would have drawn it first. Maybe he could have managed it at full strength.

Lin Yu had drawn only three Evil-Dispelling Talismans and two protective talismans. Finally, remembering that the group leader wanted Lightning Talismans, Lin Yu decided to try drawing one.

The result was predictable: he failed.

It was just like when he had first learned to draw talismans and tried to draw an Evil-Dispelling Talisman with the meager magic power of someone who wasn't even a Daoist Novice. Though the talisman he drew was perfect, it lacked the corresponding power.

This Lightning Talisman was the same; it wasn't a real Lightning Talisman.

Even so, it was still more powerful overall than a yellow talisman.

This Lightning Talisman had also exhausted all of Lin Yu's spiritual Qi. Otherwise, he would have wanted to draw a few other talismans.

But while Lin Yu had been drawing this Five Thunder Talisman, Heaven-Defying Comprehension had taken effect again, sending him into a state of sudden enlightenment.

Lin Yu had seized that opportunity and barely managed to draw a blue talisman, although it was a Five Thunder Talisman (blue talisman) that wasn't very well supplied with spiritual Qi.

"Even if it only looks the part, it's still more powerful than an ordinary yellow talisman. It should be enough for the group leader, right?" As he spoke, Lin Yu opened the chat group.

[Lin Yu: @Omniscient and Omnipotent, group leader, I've finished drawing them. Should I send them to you now?]

[Omniscient and Omnipotent: Mm-hmm, thank you, Little Yuyu. Once your group leader makes it big, I guarantee I'll take you along to eat fragrant food and drink spicy wine.]

[Ding~ Lin Yu sent an exclusive red packet.]

[Lin Yu: Then I'll wait for you to make it big, group leader.]

"Lin Yu is reading."

Some readers said the protagonist doesn't read, so I'm noting at the end of every chapter that he's reading.

And those of you with brains, remember to go leave them at chapter one of your own accord.